The Herd — From Bankruptcy
Storytelling to Staking
Simplifying DeFi staking and rewards through research-driven design, making governance and participation more intuitive for users.
Text
Text
As team lead, I initiated user-research and drove the design strategy from 0-1 to redefine the defi products, and created a unified system integrated into OPNX.
Skills
User Research (surveys, interviews)
Stakeholder management
Product design
Roadmapping & prioritising
Leadership
Interactive prototyping
Collaboration
Lead designer - Carrie Cheung
Research/UX - Priscilla Chau
Product manager - Marcus Wong
Timeline
Aug - Oct '23
Overview
OPNX rebuilt trust through clarity and consistency across its centralised exchange, while The Herd extended this into DeFi, using on-chain staking and governance to provide verifiable transparency. Together, they addressed trust from two angles.
Problem
The Herd was initially built by third-party developers as a quick spin-out to enable staking, but it lacked a product specification, design system, and user research. As a result, the experience left users confused by fragmented flows and unclear rewards in an already skeptical DeFi market.
It relied heavily on Sales to explain its basic functions and struggled to communicate its true value in an already skeptical DeFi market.
Project goal
The Herd was initially built by third-party developers as a quick spin-out to enable staking, but it lacked a product specification, design system, and user research. As a result, the experience left users confused by fragmented flows and unclear rewards in an already skeptical DeFi market.
It relied heavily on Sales to explain its basic functions and struggled to communicate its true value in an already skeptical DeFi market.
How might we
Product market fit
How might we redesign The Herd to foster meaningful community engagement and test whether governance and non-traditional rewards resonate with users?
Trust-focussed
How might we use design to bring transparency and credibility to The Herd, so users feel confident participating in governance and staking?
User comprehension
How might we simplify staking and rewards in The Herd so that users clearly understand what they’re earning and why it matters?
Challenge
High support burden
Sales and support teams had to constantly clarify how The Herd worked, highlighting poor self-explanatory design.
Complex and fragmented UX
Key flows like “Staking” and “Rewards” were split, terminology was overly technical, and navigation didn’t match user mental models.
Unclear rewards model
Users expected to earn more OX from staking, but instead received Justice Tokens and other assets, leading to confusion and low perceived value.
Add sticky notes here
Solution
We redesigned The Herd by grounding decisions in user research rather than assumptions. Usability testing revealed the need to merge staking and rewards, simplify language, and clarify how unconventional rewards like Justice Tokens worked.
Impact
Uncovered true user problems
Usability testing revealed that the biggest barrier wasn’t just UI clutter, but fundamental confusion around non-standard rewards and fragmented flows.
Reduced support burden
Addressing these core issues meant users could navigate staking and rewards without constant Sales clarification.
Improved comprehension
Clearer storytelling and calculators helped users understand what they were earning and why it mattered
Enabled cross-platform scalability
The redesign created a framework to better align The Herd with OPNX’s centralised exchange, paving the way for features like “Stake-to-Trade.
The Herd — From Bankruptcy
Storytelling to Staking
Simplifying DeFi staking and rewards through research-driven design, making governance and participation more intuitive for users.
Text
Text
As team lead, I initiated user-research and drove the design strategy from 0-1 to redefine the defi products, and created a unified system integrated into OPNX.
Skills
User Research (surveys, interviews)
Stakeholder management
Product design
Roadmapping & prioritising
Leadership
Interactive prototyping
Collaboration
Lead designer - Carrie Cheung
Research/UX - Priscilla Chau
Product manager - Marcus Wong
Timeline
Aug - Oct '23
Overview
OPNX rebuilt trust through clarity and consistency across its centralised exchange, while The Herd extended this into DeFi, using on-chain staking and governance to provide verifiable transparency. Together, they addressed trust from two angles.
Problem
The Herd was initially built by third-party developers as a quick spin-out to enable staking, but it lacked a product specification, design system, and user research. As a result, the experience left users confused by fragmented flows and unclear rewards in an already skeptical DeFi market.
It relied heavily on Sales to explain its basic functions and struggled to communicate its true value in an already skeptical DeFi market.
Project goal
The Herd was initially built by third-party developers as a quick spin-out to enable staking, but it lacked a product specification, design system, and user research. As a result, the experience left users confused by fragmented flows and unclear rewards in an already skeptical DeFi market.
It relied heavily on Sales to explain its basic functions and struggled to communicate its true value in an already skeptical DeFi market.
How might we
Product market fit
How might we redesign The Herd to foster meaningful community engagement and test whether governance and non-traditional rewards resonate with users?
Trust-focussed
How might we use design to bring transparency and credibility to The Herd, so users feel confident participating in governance and staking?
User comprehension
How might we simplify staking and rewards in The Herd so that users clearly understand what they’re earning and why it matters?
Challenge
High support burden
Sales and support teams had to constantly clarify how The Herd worked, highlighting poor self-explanatory design.
Complex and fragmented UX
Key flows like “Staking” and “Rewards” were split, terminology was overly technical, and navigation didn’t match user mental models.
Unclear rewards model
Users expected to earn more OX from staking, but instead received Justice Tokens and other assets, leading to confusion and low perceived value.
Add sticky notes here
Solution
We redesigned The Herd by grounding decisions in user research rather than assumptions. Usability testing revealed the need to merge staking and rewards, simplify language, and clarify how unconventional rewards like Justice Tokens worked.
Impact
Uncovered true user problems
Usability testing revealed that the biggest barrier wasn’t just UI clutter, but fundamental confusion around non-standard rewards and fragmented flows.
Reduced support burden
Addressing these core issues meant users could navigate staking and rewards without constant Sales clarification.
Improved comprehension
Clearer storytelling and calculators helped users understand what they were earning and why it mattered
Enabled cross-platform scalability
The redesign created a framework to better align The Herd with OPNX’s centralised exchange, paving the way for features like “Stake-to-Trade.
The Herd — From Bankruptcy
Storytelling to Staking
Simplifying DeFi staking and rewards through research-driven design, making governance and participation more intuitive for users.
Text
Text
As team lead, I initiated user-research and drove the design strategy from 0-1 to redefine the defi products, and created a unified system integrated into OPNX.
Skills
User Research (surveys, interviews)
Stakeholder management
Product design
Roadmapping & prioritising
Leadership
Interactive prototyping
Collaboration
Lead designer - Carrie Cheung
Research/UX - Priscilla Chau
Product manager - Marcus Wong
Timeline
Aug - Oct '23
Overview
OPNX rebuilt trust through clarity and consistency across its centralised exchange, while The Herd extended this into DeFi, using on-chain staking and governance to provide verifiable transparency. Together, they addressed trust from two angles.
Problem
The Herd was initially built by third-party developers as a quick spin-out to enable staking, but it lacked a product specification, design system, and user research. As a result, the experience left users confused by fragmented flows and unclear rewards in an already skeptical DeFi market.
It relied heavily on Sales to explain its basic functions and struggled to communicate its true value in an already skeptical DeFi market.
Project goal
The Herd was initially built by third-party developers as a quick spin-out to enable staking, but it lacked a product specification, design system, and user research. As a result, the experience left users confused by fragmented flows and unclear rewards in an already skeptical DeFi market.
It relied heavily on Sales to explain its basic functions and struggled to communicate its true value in an already skeptical DeFi market.
How might we
Product market fit
How might we redesign The Herd to foster meaningful community engagement and test whether governance and non-traditional rewards resonate with users?
Trust-focussed
How might we use design to bring transparency and credibility to The Herd, so users feel confident participating in governance and staking?
User comprehension
How might we simplify staking and rewards in The Herd so that users clearly understand what they’re earning and why it matters?
Challenge
High support burden
Sales and support teams had to constantly clarify how The Herd worked, highlighting poor self-explanatory design.
Complex and fragmented UX
Key flows like “Staking” and “Rewards” were split, terminology was overly technical, and navigation didn’t match user mental models.
Unclear rewards model
Users expected to earn more OX from staking, but instead received Justice Tokens and other assets, leading to confusion and low perceived value.
Add sticky notes here
Solution
We redesigned The Herd by grounding decisions in user research rather than assumptions. Usability testing revealed the need to merge staking and rewards, simplify language, and clarify how unconventional rewards like Justice Tokens worked.
Impact
Uncovered true user problems
Usability testing revealed that the biggest barrier wasn’t just UI clutter, but fundamental confusion around non-standard rewards and fragmented flows.
Reduced support burden
Addressing these core issues meant users could navigate staking and rewards without constant Sales clarification.
Improved comprehension
Clearer storytelling and calculators helped users understand what they were earning and why it mattered
Enabled cross-platform scalability
The redesign created a framework to better align The Herd with OPNX’s centralised exchange, paving the way for features like “Stake-to-Trade.